


La Douleur Exquise

by gemini28



Category: Happy Tree Friends
Genre: Canon-Typical Deaths, Canon-Typical Violence, Drama & Romance, Multi, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25410067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemini28/pseuds/gemini28
Summary: la douleur exquise: the tragedy of falling in love with someone who you cannot be withThere's someone new in Happy Tree Town, and Flaky can't help but be interested in him. He's tall, dark, and mysterious, and they're just brave enough to want to learn more about him. But getting to know him might lead them down a path that's darker than they're prepared for. Will their friends be able to help them before they find themselves in deeper trouble than they're able to handle? And what, exactly, does the newcomer want?
Relationships: Flaky/Tiger General (Happy Tree Friends)
Kudos: 8





	1. Cafe Désir

**Author's Note:**

> this fic brought to you by a one off thought that spiraled out of control and has now consumed my waking thoughts. this ship brought to you by a dream. get on the self indulgent train folks, choo choo

Flaky feels nervous as they walk towards the diner down the street from their house. Not an uncommon feeling, but today is a bit different to their normal, general anxiety. 

Every week they meet up with Giggles for lunch. Sometimes the other girls come by as well, but it’s usually just the two of them. Flaky enjoys the time spent with Giggles well enough, but compared to her they hardly ever have anything to talk about. But now they actually have something to add to the conversation, and they can’t help but to be excited. 

Giggles is already sitting outside the cafe when they get there. She’s already got her order in front of her, some sort of bright pink concoction that’s not on the menu but is always ready for her whenever they show up. Flaky  _ wishes  _ they could be as confident as her. They’re usually just grateful when the servers get their order right. 

“Flaky!” Giggles waves her hand at them, grinning widely. “Hii! I didn’t expect you to be here so early!” 

“I-I’m on time though?” They frown and pull out their phone to double check. Giggles laughs and shakes her head. 

“Exactly! You’re usually so slow to get here, so being on time means that something exciting must have happened, right?” Giggles says. 

“Oh, I don’t know about something like that…” Flaky sits down and fidgets. They don’t even have any food to fiddle with while they avoid Giggle’s eager stare. “What about you?” 

She rolls her eyes at their not-so-artful dodging of her question and sips at her drink as Flaky stumbles over their order to a passing server. They might have felt confident about this only a few minutes ago, but there’s something about actually talking to people about things like this that make them more anxious. Like it’s something that doesn’t really matter. 

“I’m fine, Flaky. I’m living a very exciting life and am the apple of everyone’s eyes.” Giggles says, putting enough sarcasm into each word that it could probably be cut through with a knife. “If only one of my very best friends would be willing to tell me about their life...Then I’d be happy!!”

“Okay, okay!” Flaky can’t help but to laugh. Even with their anxiety about all of this, Giggles always knows how to break through that and cheer them up a bit. “I guess something good did happen…”

“Does it have anything to do with the rumor about you meeting a new guy?” Giggles says, and grins widely as Flaky’s face turns redder than normal. “Ohh, I knew it, it’s true!” 

“H-How did you find out?” Flaky tries to keep their voice from trembling too much, but it’s a losing game. They’ve known for a long time that the rumor mill of the town is quick, but for it to be this fast...ugh. 

“I just heard about it in passing!” Translation: Cuddles. “You have to tell me everything! It’s soo rare that anyone new comes to town, and even rarer that you get with them!” 

“Giggles!” Flaky covers their face and closes their eyes for a moment. When they feel like they can face her without immediately bursting into flames, they look back at her with a frown. “It’s not like that. We’re not together or anything, we’re just…Friends?”

“Why do you sound so uncertain even saying just that?” Giggles says, and sighs. Flaky hesitates for a moment as their order is set in front of them. “C’mon, you can tell me.” 

“Well…” Flaky takes a deep breath and nods. If nothing else it’ll be good to actually talk about it with someone. “It was two weeks ago. I was heading home, but then it started raining pretty hard. I went into one of the alleyways until it at least let up, but…” They sigh. “But the twins showed up.”

“Oh, no.” Giggles groans and puts her head into her hands. 

“Yeah...They were really aggressive, too. Um, not that they aren’t always pretty aggressive but… I guess they probably needed rent again.” Flaky sighs and sips at their drink. Not that they don’t feel badly for the twins but...they would feel worse for them if they weren’t so aggressive every time. “Lifty was getting far too close for comfort and then... _ he  _ walked up...and punched Lifty in the face.” 

“Oh!” Giggles puts a hand to her mouth and is clearly trying so hard not to laugh and failing. “Oh my god. I shouldn’t laugh, but he really deserved that, didn’t he? Was he- Was that enough for the curse to hit?” Flaky shakes their head. 

“No, and I’m sure he wasn’t happy about that. But I was surprised, since usually the only one to get violent with the twins is Flippy and this guy is...definitely not him. He’s…” Flaky trails off, hesitating. They’re not sure how much to say. It could be awkward, right? After all, they love Giggles, but they’re well aware that she’s a gossip. And their new……..friend…….might not like gossip about him running around town. 

But just a little bit couldn’t hurt, right? If they don’t give specifics then Giggles can’t give anything away. 

“Tall.” They say, and try not to grimace as Giggles laughs harder. “A-And he came out of nowhere, or at least I didn’t see him in the alley beforehand. Before I knew it, Lifty was on the ground and Shifty was scampering off. Lifty didn’t stick around, either, and then we were alone.” 

They take a sip of their coffee. Speaking for so long isn’t really what they’re used to, but something about Giggles brings it out in them. 

“Oh wow…” Giggles looks absolutely thrilled. “That sounds so romantic!” 

Wait, what. 

“Wh-Wh-” Flaky can barely even force the words out, and can feel their cheeks heating up in mortification. “It’s not like that!! I don’t even know his name!” 

“What.” Giggles says. She stares at Flaky, who avoids looking her right in the eyes. “Was that the only time you met him?” 

“N...No. We also met again yesterday evening, when I was out running a last minute errand.” 

“And you didn’t think to ask his name then either??” Giggles sounds aghast. Flaky can understand. After all, she’s the type of girl to be able to go on a date with someone within minutes of meeting them. They don’t envy that power, but they are in awe of it. 

“We only met for a few minutes both times… I didn’t really get a chance. Remember when we first met? It took a month before I cleared up you misunderstanding my name.” 

“Oh...right, that’s true. Haha..” Giggles glances away and sips her drink, blushing a bit. “Still. If you like him-” 

“I-I wouldn’t go that far-” 

“If you like him,” Giggles says, firmer. “Then you should make sure to ask next time you see him! If he’s caught your interest then he must be nice enough, and you don’t want to miss out on someone like that, right?” 

Flaky sighs and drinks their coffee instead of answering. It’s impossible to properly explain that, yes, they’d love to flirt and get to know this man better. But the idea of doing that makes a bone deep fear settle into them and stay there. It would be easier if he was someone who’d already lived in the town before, but he’s not. They can never know ahead of time just how people from outside of town react to the curse. And they’ve been burnt before…

“I’ll be sure to ask him.” They say, just to appease Giggles. “Um, but, are you going to let me talk the whole time? O-Or is it just that nothing interesting happened for you?” 

“Okay, I’ll let that totally inelegant avoidance pass, because you are my friend and I love you.” She laughs. “But don’t think I’m gonna forget this! You’ll have to keep me updated, okay?” 

Flaky smiles, nods, and happily listens to Giggles start to chat about Petunia’s get together later in the week. It’s something they’d usually be excited for, but they have a new possible plus one to consider. They don’t know how to deal with that at all, since the last time they had someone to go to these things with was- 

“Flakes?” 

Giggles waves a hand in front of their face and they jump. They look at her for a moment before their brain catches up with what’s going on, and they start to trip over themselves in an attempt to apologize. She holds up one hand, smiling a bit. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay! I get it, you have a lot on your mind. It’s about time for me to get back to work, anyhow!” She stands and claps Flaky on the shoulder. “Keep at it, Flakes! I’m looking forward to meeting your new “”friend””.” She says, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Flaky shoves her shoulder lightly and she just laughs. 

After she leaves, Flaky’s mood turns a bit. 

They don’t like lying to their friends, even when it’s a lie of omission. But, really. Bringing up the tiny detail that makes their...friend...so difficult to talk about was impossible. 

The fact of the matter is, the man whose name they don’t even know is a blue tiger. 

It’s not that it’s uncommon for tigers to be living in town. There are even quite a few veterans that have ended up here, that were most definitely on the opposing side in the war. They’re all very nice, but they tend to avoid Flaky’s broader friend group, for the simple fact that doing so will make it less likely that they run into Flippy. 

They don’t want to think that he’d make trouble for them, but Fliqpy is a different story entirely and Flaky wants to avoid him as much as possible. They don’t want to be the reason someone feels uncomfortable or worse, gets murdered horribly on purpose. Which means not telling Giggles details so she doesn’t (accidentally or not) spill anything. 

This is all just to try and feel less bad about not telling Giggles everything, which they’re failing at. What she doesn’t know can’t hurt her, yes, but they still hate it. Once they get more confident, they’ll tell her. Definitely. 

They sigh, and finish off their coffee before standing. There’s no sense in hanging around. They’ll just get stuck in a worry spiral and end up tripping into a death trap. At least if they go walking back home, there’s a chance they can enjoy nature a bit before something horrible inevitably happens. 

And, maybe, though they won’t admit this to themselves, they’ll be able to spot the tiger again. And then they’ll definitely get his name. 


	2. livre d'amitié

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flaky goes to the library on a mission and continues to be lovingly bullied by their friends.

The library in Happy Tree is something of an anomaly in the town. While everywhere else is plagued almost every day by some violent act or another, the library is comparatively quiet. Not that there  _ aren’t  _ horrible ways to die there, but if you want to go somewhere and relax it’s a good gamble. 

It’s one of Flaky’s favorite places to be. It’s quiet, always cool, and hardly anyone goes up to them and tries to make small talk. Basically heaven for an introvert like them. Most times they visit they just spend an hour or two wandering the shelves and going home with pounds of books. 

But they have a specific goal in mind today. 

The other day their new friend whose name they’d finally gotten, had mentioned offhand that he was looking forward to re-reading a book he enjoyed. Even though they hadn’t admitted it out loud yet, they knew that they wanted to get closer to him. He was nice, and clever, and infinitely patient with all of their anxieties. Even if things didn’t go in a romantic direction, it would still be nice to become close friends with someone who deals with them. 

It still feels like kind of a long shot, but surely reading the same things will help with that? That’s how they became friends with Flippy at first, after all. 

Speaking of him…

“You haven’t been around often. I was starting to get worried.” Flippy smiles up at Flaky from behind the checkout desk. He looks tired, but they can count the number of times he  _ hasn’t  _ on one hand. 

“I-I’ve been too busy to read lately… But I’m here now!” They say. “And looking for something specific. Um, here!” They hand him the piece of paper they’d scribbled the hopefully-correct title on. 

“Hm... _ Secret of the Visitor _ , huh? Not a real popular title, that one. What’s got you interested in it?” Flippy asks as he types on the computer in front of him. 

“Oh, a friend recommended it…” They say, glancing off to the side nervously. 

“A friend, huh?” They look back at him at that and blush at the raised eyebrow and grin he’s giving them. “Could it be the same one Giggles has been goin’ on about in the town chat?” 

“Oh, god.” Flaky groans and puts their head in their hands. “She’s already been talking about it?”

“Can’t get her to stop, honestly. There’s already a betting pool about what kinda guy he is.” Flippy says. “Oh, look, the book’s available. Want me to show you where it is?” 

“Please.” They say. Anything to avoid talking about the previous topic, they don’t say. Flippy stands and starts walking towards the shelves, and Flaky follows. 

They have a sort of strange relationship with Flippy. They used to be way more afraid of him than now, and even being in a big building alone like this would have been unthinkable before. But now, so long as it’s  _ Flippy  _ they’re talking to, he’s no more frightening than a plush bear. So, they get along a lot better than they used to. 

Flippy stops at the mystery section and doesn’t even have to double check before pulling out a book. Flaky can see why it doesn’t catch the average browser’s eye- it has a simple blue cover and not much about it catches the eye. 

“Here it is. I think it’s a serious mystery, are you sure you’re interested?” Flippy offers the book out to them, and they roll their eyes before taking it. 

“I’m not going to be afraid of a story you know. I’m not  _ that  _ much of a wilting flower…” 

“Mm. And who was it that got so emotional over that romance novel that you had to put it down and walk around for ten minutes?” Flippy laughs as they punch his shoulder. It probably feels like butterfly kisses, but they try. 

“Th-That’s not related! I doubt there’s going to be any romance in this!” They press the book up against their face, trying to hide how red they’re getting. “My friend doesn’t seem the type to like romance, so…” 

“This definitely has romance as a pretty big subplot, though?” Flippy says, tilting his head to one side. “I read some reviews about it. Maybe your new friend is implying something?” 

Flaky takes a moment to really understand those words, and then jumps at the dull thudding of their quills hitting the books behind them. Ah. Good thing that no one was standing there, at least. 

“...Please help.” They say, looking exhausted. Flippy clearly holding back laughter is not helping their embarrassment at all. 

“Sorry, sorry.” He starts pulling the books from their quills. If it weren’t for the curse they’re sure he’d be much more annoyed at them for ruining a bunch of perfectly good books with their emotions. “You’re just so easy to tease sometimes. Is this new guy really so impressive?” 

“Flippy…”

“Hey, I can keep a secret! Better than Giggles, anyhow.” He pulls another book from their quills and sighs. “Besides, I’m curious about him now too. Gigs didn’t really give us much information, and I haven’t seen him around myself. You can’t blame any of us for being interested in someone new.” 

“I-I guess you’re right…” They say. They smooth back their quills once the other books are out, and try to keep them that way. No need for bloodshed when Flippy’s around. “He’s very nice. He’s got kind of a weird sense of humor, though- I think you’ll really like him.” 

“Giggles says you don’t even know his name yet.” Flippy says, and ducks as Flaky’s quills knock over the stack of books that were just on them. “Wow. Was she not kidding?” 

“I know his name now!! Oh my god!” Flaky can’t help that their voice gets louder, it just. Come on, Giggles!! “It’s TJ. He told me the other day…” 

“Ah, so you’ve gotten even closer now. Good to hear.” Flippy says. Flaky just sighs heavily and sets the book onto the counter. He starts checking them out, and they can’t help but to hope that’s the end of it- “So when are we gonna get to meet him?” 

“Wh- Huh??” Flaky shakes their head immediately, waving a hand. “Not any time soon! None of you can behave!” 

“Wow, ouch. ...Not I think you’re entirely wrong, mind you. But really, what’s the worst that’ll happen?” 

“You mean besides him taking one look at Petunia or Giggles or Lammy and immediately developing a crush on them?” They sigh. “...I’ll ask him about it. I do want you all to meet, I do, but…” 

“No, I get it. We’re a unique bunch. Especially to someone not from here.” Flippy smiles and hands them the book. “Don’t worry too much about it. But, listen, Flakes, if he gives you any trouble…” 

“I’ll call Giggles.” They say, and can’t help but to giggle a bit at the look on Flippy’s face. “And maybe you, if he’s really hard to handle.” 

“Thanks.” He says flatly. Then his expression softens some. “I’m just… I can’t help but to worry, you know? You don’t exactly have great taste in men.” 

“A-Are you...including yourself in that?” 

“I am  _ especially _ included in that. Just promise me you’ll try to be careful?” 

Flaky sighs, but they can’t exactly blame him. The town is chaotic enough without adding on more trouble, and they’ve had terrible, awful luck in the past that they have no desire to repeat. 

“I promise,” They say. Then, because they can’t help but to needle at him a little. “ _ Dad. _ ” 

“Okay,  _ okay _ , you’ve made your point.” He says, waving his hands at her in a shooing motion. “I won’t bother you with help anymore.” 

Flaky waves and walks out of the library, clutching the book tightly to their chest. They want to get home quickly so they can read this before they run into TJ again. There’s a warmth blossoming in their chest at the thought of seeing him again so soon, and they pick up their pace. Totally just because they want to get home quicker. Definitely. 

* * *

Flippy counts to ten before standing and going over to one of the windows at the front of the library. He peers out and watches as Flaky makes their way down the street. They’re nearly skipping with how good a mood they’re in, and he smiles to see it. 

“So you’ve graduated to spying?” 

He sighs, rolls his eyes, and turns to glare at Fliqpy, who’s leaning against the windowsill. He isn’t surprised when his alter shows up anymore, but he is always annoyed. 

“It’s not spying, I’m literally just watching them leave. People do it all the time.” He looks out the window again and frowns. “And I’m worried.”

“So, what, you think you’ll get a look at their new catch by chance?” Flippy stays quiet since he’s not wrong. “Whatever. You’re not allowed to judge me when I suggest “just watching” someone again.” 

“Your suggestions are always way creepier-” 

“Oh, shit, is that him?” Fliqpy interrupts and leans in closer to the window. Flippy sighs harshly. 

“Don’t try and change the subject.” He looks out the window again and pales. “Oh. Oh, no.” 

Flaky has stopped just a little ways away from the library, so he can still see them clearly. At first he didn’t see who they were talking to, but then the stranger stepped into the light and honestly, Flippy cannot believe the cosmic bad luck he’s had to face. 

“It’s a fucking tiger.” Fliqpy says, sounding dumbfounded. “That’s for real, right? I’m not the only one seeing it?” 

“There are plenty of tigers in the town, you know.” Flippy mutters. Which is true, but most of them avoid the library like the plague. Hell, most of them avoid Flippy’s group of friends on the off chance that they’d meet him. 

“I don’t like the look of him.” Fliqpy says. “What the fuck is he even doing with cherry bomb? We can’t just stand here!” 

Flippy is glad that he’s gotten a modicum of control over himself because he doesn’t really want to be rushing off to kill some random civilian just because they have an unfortunate trauma link. It isn’t fair to this guy, and it wouldn’t be fair to Flaky. 

“We can and we will. Flaky said they’d be careful, and I trust them.” He says this firmly, trying to convince Fliqpy as much as himself. There’s a sulky silence from his alt, which is better than uncontrollable anger. 

He stares out at Flaky and the strange TJ, brow furrowed. He can’t help but to feel bad about this- After all, if Giggles didn’t mention the tiger thing, then Flaky probably didn’t tell her specifically because it would get back to Flippy. And honestly? He can’t judge them for that. His reaction really was probably exactly what they’d thought it would be. 

He sighs, and is about to go back to his desk when TJ turns and glances back at the library. It could be taken as just a coincidence, but Flippy feels goosebumps rise and can’t shake the feeling that the man is looking directly at him. He stares for a moment more before something Flaky says gets his attention, and he looks away. 

Flippy grips the windowsill, feeling dread pool into his stomach no matter how he tries to will it away. He doesn’t like this. He doesn’t like this at all. 


	3. Draguer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flaky gets some one on one time with their mysterious crush. Anxiety and romance abounds.

Tree town is nicer at night. It’s when most people are either asleep or dead, so there’s notably less disasters. Flaky honestly prefers the town like this. It’s quiet, dark, and apparently great for date nights. 

Their track record with dates has been, to put it politely, highschool level. Their most recent time out had been at the local bowling alley, and that had been a group date. They’ve never spent time alone with someone in a romantic context beyond a couple of minutes. 

They’re not even entirely sure this  _ is  _ a date. When they told Giggles that TJ had asked them to meet him at the park, she’d been convinced it was a date. But they aren’t so sure, really. It hadn’t been explicit, and they don’t want their own interest in him to color what’s probably just a platonic outing. 

So standing at the entrance to the park, wearing a new dress that Giggles had helped them pick out, it’s really no surprise that they’re nervous. What if they mess up? What if it isn’t something they enjoy? What if they embarrass themselves in front of TJ? What if-

“Did you wait long?” 

They look up and feel their chest constrict in anxiety. TJ is standing in front of them (and they hadn’t even noticed him approaching!!) with a polite smile. He looks...great. They don’t even know what else to say about it! He’s handsome enough that he could wear jeans and a tshirt and he’d still manage to look effortlessly gorgeous. 

“No...I just got here a few minutes ago.” They say after an embarrassing few moments of silence. It seems like he doesn’t notice just how nervous they are, or if he does he’s being incredibly polite and not mentioning it. 

“Good, good. It’s cold out this evening, so I wouldn’t want you to be out here alone for too long.” He says. Honestly? Flaky hadn’t even noticed. They’d been so busy drowning in their own worries that the slight bite of the wind was barely even a blip on their radar. 

“It is, yeah...It’s not too bad for you, right?” Stupid question, they scold themselves. He was the one who suggested this date, after all. Obviously he’s not too affected by the cold. They sigh a bit at themselves before nearly jumping out of their skin when a warm weight is wrapped around their neck. They touch TJ’s scarf, looking up at him uncertainly. 

“You looked cold.” He says, as if that explains it. “And I run warm. Shall we?” 

He offers out his arm and they hesitate a moment before taking it. He wasn’t lying- they can feel his heat just from holding his arm. Before they realize it, they’ve moved closer to him with their head lying on his arm. He hasn’t moved away so they can’t even do what they want- rocketing out of the way in embarrassment and dying on the spot- without possibly upsetting him. 

“...It’s nice out.” They say so quietly so if their voice breaks it’s not audible. 

“It is. I didn’t expect a small town like this to be quite so nice when I moved here.” He says. 

“Why did you move here?” Flaky asks, and then flushes. “I-I mean- It’s just not the most popular place! Even if we didn’t have the curse, it’s still not...exactly interesting?” 

“Ah, but that’s exactly why I moved here.” He says. “It’s quiet. Everyone is nice. I’m sure you’ve already guessed I’m a veteran, and I don’t need any more excitement in my life.” 

That...makes sense. As a matter of fact, that’s similar to what Flippy told them when they first met him. That the town seemed perfect at first glance and it was so affordable that it would be ridiculous  _ not  _ to take the chance- And then finding out about the curse, and the difficulty of dying every day… They feel bad for him. They might have been raised here, but they know enough of how normal the rest of the world is to know it must have been a terrible shock. 

“...I’m sorry you got stuck here, instead of anyplace actually nice.” They look down at their feet. It’s ridiculous, but they feel guilty. 

“Hm. You shouldn’t be sorry.” He says, and they’re about to apologize again when he puts his hand over theirs and their words stop in their tracks. “After all, coming here allowed me to meet you.” 

Flaky stops walking and stares at him with wide eyes. They don’t even realize how far their quills have raised until they hear fabric softly ripping. They panic and try to take the scarf off, but that just gets it more tangled in their quills. Instead of getting angry or irritated, TJ just chuckles softly and helps them untangle themselves. 

“Sorry. I suppose that was a bit cheesy, hm?” He smiles down at them and they feel their heart skip a beat again. “I think the scarf is a bit useless now.” 

“I-I’m so sorry.” They say, mortification overtaking them like a wave. “Oh, oh my god. Your  _ scarf _ -” 

They have no doubt that a single scarf probably doesn’t matter that much to him. Every piece of his outfit looks like it costs more than they make in a year. He could probably buy a dozen of these scarves and it wouldn’t even put a dent in his account. But that’s not the important thing- The thing that really matters is they messed up. Again. Them and their stupid emotions and stupid quills making mistakes that can’t be taken back. They’re always doing this. 

“Flaky?” A hand on their cheek jolts them out of their thoughts. “Hey. Look at me. Breathe.” 

They hadn’t even realized their breathing had gotten so uneven until then. They close their eyes and focus on calming down, bit by bit. And while that helps with the anxiety, it doesn’t do anything for the embarrassment now burning them up. God, what a nice side to show someone they like, huh? 

“S..sorry.” They say. TJ shakes his head.

“It’s quite alright. It’s just a scarf. It’s not like I haven’t wrecked a few myself in the past.” They’re not entirely sure what he means by that, but it makes them feel better even if it’s a lie. “It would be silly to get mad about something like that, anyhow.” 

“...You’re too nice.” They mumble. Then they realize that he hasn’t moved his very warm, soft paw away from their face and they’re very worried about freaking out again. But they don’t. Maybe it’s just the comforting feeling of someone else touching them in such a casually intimate way that makes their heart flutter in excitement rather than anxiety. 

So when he does move his hand they’re briefly disappointed, until he reaches out to hold theirs. That brings around a whole other level of emotions that they’re going to have to take apart later. 

They walk quietly together for a bit. It would be nice if they could focus on the night, or the cold, or literally anything besides the hand holding theirs firmly. How do people do this so casually, so often? How are people on dates not constantly feeling like their heart is about to beat out of their chest? 

“I have a question for you, Flaky.” TJ says after a few more moments of silence, and they are infinitely grateful. As much as talking makes them nervous, silence is worse. “It’s about the curse.” 

“Oh. Yes?” 

“I haven’t experienced it personally just yet, so I can’t help but to worry… Is there any situation where the curse won’t bring someone back?” He sounds worried, and who could blame him? Dying isn’t pleasant. Worrying about dying is even less pleasant. 

“Oh...Let me think.” They close their eyes for a moment before shaking their head. “Not that I know of? I mean, there are certain...outliers. Handy’s hands. Um...Pop’s wife… But we don’t know what, specifically, causes the outliers.” 

“I see. And no one has died permanently besides that?” 

“Oh, not that I know of...But, um, if you’re really curious about it, the library has a lot of good information! Better than just what I know…” 

“No, no, you’ve been very helpful.” He squeezes their hand lightly and they can’t help a nervous giggle. “Thank you, Flaky. I feel a bit less worried now.” 

They’re still thinking of what to reply with when a sound like an alarm goes off. It takes them a moment to realize it’s a ringtone and by that time TJ is already taking his phone out. He frowns a bit when he looks at the screen before glancing at them apologetically. 

“Sorry. I need to take this. Give me a moment?” 

“O-Of course!” 

They’re a bit sad that he lets go of their hand. But it must be something important and personal if he has to step away to make the call. Even though they might be curious, listening in on private conversations is a really quick way to die in this town, so being respectful is the only way. 

...It really is cold out. They hadn’t noticed, between their earlier nervousness and how warm TJ was. And since the sun’s gone down the chill in the air is even more biting. They aren’t used to being outside at this time, but they don’t think they want to go home just yet. It’s strange...Even when they dated in the past they were happy to go home no matter how good of a time they’d had. 

They’re not entirely sure what about this is so different. They just don’t feel as tired around TJ, even though they don’t know him that well yet. 

“Flaky?” They look up at him as he walks back over. “I’m sorry. Something came up at home, and I have to go. But I can walk you back home before I do, if you like?” 

“Oh…” They try not to sound too disappointed. They aren’t sure how successful they are. “Um, that’s okay, if something’s happened… But I would like to walk home with you.” 

They don’t exactly plan to say that last part out loud, but seeing him give them a relieved smile makes it much more worth it. This time, they don’t even have to be prompted before they take his arm. They feel like they’re going to die of embarrassment because of it, but they do it! 

Their house isn’t that far from the park, so it’s a disappointingly short walk. They haven’t been this unwilling to go back into their house in a while. 

“I’m sorry I ended the date so quickly.” TJ says. “I’ll make it up to you next time.” 

And before Flaky can properly react to the word “date”, he leans over and raises the back of their hand to his lips. They go stock still and completely lose any ability to speak, just staring at him with huge eyes as he straightens up. 

“I’ll call you tomorrow. Have a good night.” He says, and they can only nod. They watch him walk off for a moment before taking several tries to get the key into the lock of their front door. They stumble into their house and only make it far enough to shut the door before sliding down it, staring off into the middle distance with a startled look. 

It wasn’t even that impressive. It was just a kiss on the hand. But something about it...Maybe it was the way he did it so confidently? Or the fact that he didn’t seem to mind that they couldn’t properly react? They aren’t sure. It’s so  _ cheesy _ and they shouldn’t be so overwhelmed but...It hit just right. 

They cover their face and giggle a little, overwhelmed but finally alone enough to properly express their feelings. And they feel, above all,  _ giddy _ . 

They have to text Giggles about this, asap. Maybe she can help them sort out a few of their more confusing feelings. It’ll be well worth the teasing. 

* * *

Outside Flaky’s apartment a single, tall blue tiger walks down the street. He waits until he’s far away enough from their door to take out his cellphone again and redials the number that had called him. 

“It’s me.” His voice is far different to the kind, calm one he’d just been speaking to Flaky with. It’s colder, more clipped. It doesn’t give any room for argument. “I was busy. Yes, I got a bit of information. If you can call it that.” 

He pauses to listen and a small, cruel smile makes its way across his face slowly. He glances around him with the air of a king surveying his castle. 

“No, I don’t think this town or anyone in it will pose much of a problem to us at all." 


	4. Bouche-à-Oreille

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Giggles goes to the diner for food and gossip and bites off more than she can chew.

Literally speaking there are quite a few good places to eat at town. Plenty of sit down restaurants, even. But when you want a good hearty meal with a side of gossip, the only place to go is the diner that Petunia works at. 

It’s not that it is any different to the rest of the diners in town, but it does have Petunia, and a policy of allowing customers to stay as long as they need to as long as they order one of  _ something _ . That’s why there’s no surprise when Giggles comes through the front door like a storm, her eyes glinting in that particular way that means she has something  _ juicy  _ to talk about. 

She’s not alone, either; Cuddles follows quick behind her with a bounce in his step. They head straight to the table they always use when they come here for gossip, a booth settled in the back that gives them a full view of the diner while also being large enough to let all of them sit. Only Flippy is there tonight, but that’s always subject to change. 

“Okay!” Giggles wastes no time, slapping her hands onto the table the second she sits down. “Flaky’s boyfriend. Thoughts?” 

“I don’t know if he’s trustworthy.” Flippy says. He’s trying his best but he can’t really hide his sulky expression, even behind his milkshake. 

“Ex’s opinions don’t count! Next!” Giggles looks towards Cuddles, who shrugs. 

“I’m really curious about the guy, but Flaky’s being really tight-lipped about it all! At least with Flippy we already knew what he was capable of, and also he couldn’t tell a lie to save his life.” 

“Hey,” Flippy protests, weakly. “There wasn’t any reason to lie! Which makes all this more suspicious, by the way. What does this guy have to hide that Flaky doesn’t feel comfortable telling us?” 

“You mean besides the fact that he’s a blue tiger?” Giggles says, keeping an airy sort of tone to her voice. Flippy grimaces and shrinks further into his seat. Giggles relents a bit and pats his hand. “Aw, don’t get so sad. I’m sure they’ll tell you when they’re sure you won’t freak out! Besides, they haven’t told us either. They’re just  _ really bad  _ at being subtle.” 

“Well...I get it...But it’s not because of that that I’m suspicious!” Flippy says. “I don’t know, it’s just a gut feeling...I’ll be happy if I’m wrong, you know?” 

“Hmm.” Cuddles leans back in the booth seat and steeples his fingers together, in a move that only promises evil thoughts. “You know something? We should...Get the Romance Detective Squad back together.” 

“Oh, I’m out.” Flippy says, moving to get up out of his seat but immediately being yanked back down by Giggles who for her part looks  _ thrilled _ . “No, come on. The last time I let you two drag me around for that romance detective crap I was in jail for a week.” 

Giggles unfortunately remembers all too well. Not exactly their finest moment. But she keeps a stubborn hand on Flippy’s shoulder. 

“That won’t happen this time. We’ll be more careful! Or more direct, whichever. Besides, you can’t say you’re not dying to know more about the guy, right? And I don’t think you’re entirely wrong, honestly. The guy is suspicious.” It’s not that she doesn’t trust Flaky not to make their own decisions and know how to take care of themself, it’s just that Flaky has been fooled by the twins multiple times despite knowing them since childhood. 

If everything is fine, that’s good that’s great. But she’s not going to let some rando hurt Flaky without facing consequences. 

“...I guess you’ve got a point. Ugh.” Flippy sighs and runs a hand through his fur, looking unhappy but in the way that Giggles knows means he’s given up. “But I want an actual plan this time. No running around blind.” 

“It’s great that you’re so easy to bully into some light crime, Flippy.” Cuddles says, deeply smug. 

Flippy looks like he’s about to say some stern words about that, but Petunia walks up with food before he can. She sets down Cuddles’ and Giggles’ meals and leans in conspiratorialy. 

“Look who just walked in!” She gestures behind her and Giggles cranes her neck to see. 

It’s Lifty, and he looks  _ terrible _ , with a huge bruise taking up half his face and an exhausted expression. Giggles looks back at the entrance, expecting to see his brother following him in. But nope, it’s just him. That’s…weird. Normally you can only get them to be apart if you pay them, and even then it’s doubtful how long that’ll last. 

“He’s got a lotta nerve showing up here after that stunt he pulled.” Cuddles says. “Look at him! All...smug.” 

“He just looks kinda tired.” Petunia says, sympathetic as always. “Oh, I should go over and see what he wants to eat. Maybe he has money this time.” 

“I’m going with you!” Giggles says, absolutely deciding in the moment. “I have a couple of questions to ask him….as a detective.” 

Petunia doesn’t stop her, which is as good as agreement to Giggles. The two of them walk over to Lifty who’s just...sitting at the front counter quietly. It’s absolutely surreal. She’s seen him making a fuss at not being immediately served, or worse sneaking back into the kitchen when Petunia’s distracted. But she’s never seen him calm. 

“Hi Lifty!” Giggles says, jumping in before Petunia can. She sits next to him and rests her chin in her hands, giving what she hopes is a suitably searching look. “What’re you doing here all alone?” 

Lifty looks at her, looks at Petunia, and looks at the table where he’s getting mean-mugged by the others. He sets down the menu. 

“Nope.” He says. “Not dealin’ with this today.” 

He makes a movement to stand up, but before he can even get off the seat heavy hands settle onto his shoulders and push him right back down. Giggles hadn’t even noticed Flippy walking over here. A terrifying new fact to find out about him that she’s going to have to think about later! 

“Sit down.” Flippy says. He sounds just as pleasant and polite as ever, but Lifty wilts. “Let’s have a talk.” 

“If you stay, I’ll let you have your meal for free!” Petunia says brightly. The traditional good cop-bad cop act. Giggles loves that she didn’t even need to tell them to do it. 

“...Well…” Lifty is visibly cracking. “Okay, fine! Fine,  _ fuck _ . You guys are such fucking bullies.” 

Five minutes later he’s sitting at the booth the others are at and stuffing his face with bacon. Giggles is trying her absolute best not to stare too excitedly, but is definitely failing. He didn’t actually end up hurting Flaky, and she’s curious to find out more about TJ from a different point of view.

“So.” Flippy says after a minute. He still looks awfully unhappy. “You want to explain why you went after Flaky  _ again _ ?” 

“Okay, first things first,” Lifty points his fork at Flippy and then immediately puts it down after Flippy’s expression gets a bit flintier. “It wasn’t our idea! It’s all that tiger’s fault!”

What. 

“What?!” Giggles stands up and slaps the table in her shock. “What do you mean!” 

“Huh?” Lifty looks genuinely surprised for a moment. “Um...I mean, there’s this tiger, and-”

“We know that.” Flippy cuts him off, and oh dear. His expression is nothing short of murderous right now. “What do you mean, it was his fault.” 

“Um. Well, he paid us.” Lifty sounds embarrassed, as if he only just now considered that maybe it’s a bit bad as he says it. “A thousand each to just trouble them a bit. I mean, there’s no way we could have turned that down, you know! Though god, if I’d known he was gonna punch  _ me  _ as hard as he did, I woulda been more careful.” 

Lifty doesn’t seem to realize the effect that his words have had on the group. Giggles glances around at the others, sure that their shocked, nervous expressions are mirrored on her face. Well, excepting Flippy, who just looks like he’s roughly three seconds away from murdering someone. 

“...Can you describe the guy?” Giggles says, slowly sitting back down. It’s not that she’s doubting it’s TJ, it’s just...She wants it not to be. For Flaky’s sake. 

“Sure. He’s real tall, and has an eyepatch over his left eye. And I’m pretty sure he’s got a fake arm.” Lifty sighs and rubs at the bruise on his cheek again. “When he hit me it sure didn’t feel regular, at least.” 

...That’s pretty damning. Flaky had sent her a picture, and that description matches almost exactly. Which means...Well, honestly she isn’t entirely sure what that means just yet. There’s too many possibilities to be able to say for certain just yet. 

“So, we’re going to kill him, right?” Flippy says and, oh, no, his voice is deeper and his eyes are most definitely golden right now. Dammit, the last thing they need is for Fliqpy to be running around. He might seem terrifyingly calm right now but she knows how fast that can change. 

“Hold on!” Cuddles shakes his head and does not seem to have noticed Flippy’s change just yet. “First off, that won’t do anything-” 

“It will if we drag him out of town.” Fliqpy growls. Cuddles continues to not seem to notice. 

“And two, Flaky’s not going to be happy at all if we just decide that their boyfriend is evil and kill him. Right?” Now he’s looking at Fliqpy who rolls his eyes, but coming from him that’s as good of an agreement as anything. 

“So what do you think we should do?” Giggles says. She has a few thoughts of her own, honestly, but she can’t do it all alone. She just really wants Flaky to be happy, so she’ll do whatever it takes. 

“Well, actually...I already had an idea beforehand.” Cuddles grins and leans in, eyes sparkling in that specific way he gets when he’s got a particularly juicy idea. “So, here’s what I think we should do…” 


	5. passé et présent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flippy attempts to be subtle. It goes about as well as can be expected.

Flippy dislikes subterfuge. It isn’t that he thinks it doesn’t work, and it isn’t that he thinks it doesn’t have its place. It is entirely because he is hot garbage at it. Despite his small stature he’s never able to stay subtle for long enough to do anything, and he’s found that the problems that could be fixed with information can also be fixed with knives. 

But Cuddles had insisted. It was part of his plan, he’d said, that Flippy be the one to trail after Flaky’s beau. Flippy was the only one who knew how to be even the slightest bit sneaky, and wouldn’t be able to lie for shit in front of Flaky besides. And apparently it helps that Lifty is scared of him, so he’s the only one who can rein him in. 

So they’re here, crouched behind a bush, watching the tall blue tiger walk down the darkened road, and he  _ hates _ it. He just wants to go and face that bastard personally, without all this skulking around. And he  _ really  _ doesn’t want to be stuck with Lifty. Sure, he’s better behaved than his brother, but he’s still stubborn and slippery and is absolutely going to run off the first chance he gets. 

“He’s going to kill us…” Lifty whimpers for the fifth time in as many minutes. It’s another reason Flippy kind of wishes he’d killed him at the diner. 

“Only if he catches us, and then only if you don’t shut up.” Flippy says, his words only not a growl because he’s speaking too quietly. “Just follow my lead, and don’t be an idiot.” 

He stands and, to make sure Lifty  _ does  _ follow, grabs him by the sleeve of his jacket and drags him along. It’s lucky that there are so many alleyways and convenient hedges in Happy Tree. Usually that just leads to easily avoidable deaths, but here it’s actually useful. Whoever the tiger really is, he’s apparently enough of an oblivious idiot that he hasn’t noticed them skulking around. 

As they get closer, Flippy considers the tiger with a frown. He knows it’s ridiculous to assume that out of all possible blue tigers, it’s the singular one he doesn’t want it to be. Even with the somewhat damning evidence of the eye and the arm, there are plenty of vets with those injuries besides the psycho that was running the show. And it’s extra impossible it’s him. Flippy killed him personally, and it isn’t like that jungle was under the same rules as the town. 

He doesn’t even realize he’s started gnawing at his thumb until he tastes blood. Ugh.

The tiger stops at the corner, pulling out a cell phone from his pocket. He’s just close enough to the two of them that Flippy is sure they’ll be able to hear everything, which is good, but he’s not sure how much he’s going to be able to handle it if he has to hear him being cute at Flaky after the shit he pulled. 

“Hello? Oh, it’s you.” He says, but Flippy isn’t able to focus on that because his world becomes red as soon as he hears the tiger’s voice. 

He doesn’t even realize he’s moved until he finds himself striding up to the man and grabbing him by the front of his sweater and shoving him up against the nearest brick wall. 

“ _ You _ .” He snarls. Tiger General- because it is the General, he can see it so plainly now that he’s face to face- looks at him with a mild expression. 

“I’ll have to call you back.” He says, and puts his phone away with the air of someone being mildly inconvenienced at best, instead of actively threatened. “Can I help you?” 

“Don’t act cute! I know who you are!” Flippy isn’t able to keep himself quiet even when he’s in a good mood; he’s sure he’s yelling now. “What the hell are you doing here?  _ Alive? _ ” 

“I wasn’t aware I was supposed to be dead.” The General says, and good fucking god he is just as insufferable as he ever was. “Ah. Hm. Good evening, Lifty.” 

Flippy glances behind him to see Lifty standing there, looking awkward and nervous and like he’s about to bolt. Typical. Maybe he can be helpful for once and run off to tell everyone there’s a fucking war criminal living in town. 

“Should I like- I mean, you two seem...Busy.” Lifty says. He takes a step back and before he even gets an inch further his throat opens up and blood sprays down his front. His eyes go wide and he’s dead before he hits the ground. Flippy stares at the glint of gold from the knife embedded in Lifty’s throat, and slowly turns back to glare at the General. 

“I never did like having to rely on big mouths like him.” He says, his voice not wavering even a bit like he didn’t just  _ kill  _ someone. What the fuck is wrong with him?? “Now. Do you actually have something to say, or are you just going to keep blustering?” 

“You-!” Flippy grinds his teeth, trying his best to keep it together. He can feel Fliq trying to take over like a pressure in the back of his mind, but he wants to do this as himself. And Fliq has never, ever been good at talking. “What the fuck is wrong with you! You can’t just go around killing people like it’s nothing-” 

“You mean, like you do?” He says, and Flippy falters. “Oh, yes, I know all about what you’ve been getting up to in town, sergeant. You have no place to be scolding anyone about murder.” 

“That’s…” He shakes his head and tightens his hold on him. No, he can’t get distracted. “Not the point! What the hell are you planning to do with Flaky?” 

There’s a beat of silence as the General’s expression goes between disbelief and amusement before finally settling on scorn. Not the first time Flippy’s had to face it, but that doesn’t make it any easier to not wilt under the glare. 

“Really? That’s what all this is about?” He scoffs. “Do they know you’re out here harassing their boyfriend?” 

Flippy has to actually take a moment not to just rip his throat out for saying that. 

“Answer the question.” 

“Mm. Why should I? Why does it even matter to you?” He says, and then grins slowly. It’s not a nice expression. “Oh. Oh I  _ see _ . Oh, sergeant, jealousy is  _ such  _ a bad look on you.” 

It takes a moment, then Flippy turns scarlet. He can’t get himself together fast enough to respond before the General grabs him by the wrist, yanks his hand off, and shoves him away. Flippy almost loses his balance but thank god saves it at the last moment. He doesn’t need to add that embarrassment on top of the others. 

“I’m not jealous! Who the hell would be jealous of you??” He says, knowing damn well it’s not what he meant. “Don’t deflect. What are you planning?” 

“Hm, well, I was thinking that I could take them on a proper date to a restaurant. Maybe a nice time spent at home. They do seem so nervous, don’t they?” The General almost looks  _ pleased _ to say that. Or maybe just fond. Either way it’s disgusting and Flippy wants to kill him. 

“You know damn well that isn’t what I meant.” He says and, oh, when did he take his knife out? He didn’t even realize. “If you even  _ think  _ about hurting them-” 

“Oh, are you going to preach to me about that now? You?” He sneers and takes a step forward. Flippy’s height does him no good on a normal day and right now it is particularly bad. Honestly, who gave this bastard the right to be so tall plus heeled boots? “I haven’t hurt them at all. Not once. Can you say the same?” 

Flippy hesitates. No, he can’t, if he was going to be totally honest. He’s hurt and killed Flaky tons of times, and at least once it was on purpose. Sure, he’s known them for a few more years than this asshole has, but doesn’t that just make it worse? It’s not like he hasn’t thought about this a lot- He has nothing but feelings of grief and guilt all the time! But being told off by someone like  _ this _ ...Insufferable. 

“If you do anything to them, I’ll make sure to top what Fliqpy did to you before.” He says, and it’s as easy a threat as anything. He can think of at least three different things that would be worse off the top of his head. 

“Sure, of course. Whatever makes you feel better about yourself.” The way he speaks is so airy and unconcerned it makes Flippy boil in frustration. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a silver cigarette case, pulling one out and lighting it in a single smooth motion. “Now. If you’ll excuse me, I have other plans than getting threatened by a teddy bear tonight.” 

Before Flippy can even begin to express how that makes him feel the General shoves past him, back the way he was heading. Flippy stares at his back and can feel the tremble in his arm holding the knife. He has to be good. He doesn’t want to be, but he doesn’t want to give Flaky any further cause to hate him and unfortunately the General really hasn’t done anything to warrant violence. Except for killing Lifty, but they’ve all done that at one point or another. 

The second the tiger turns the corner Flippy feels almost all the tension go out of him. He didn’t even realize just how hard the adrenaline had hit until it started ebbing away. He slumps against the brick wall, sliding down it as he scrubs at his eyes in a determined effort not to cry.

Fuck. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you imagine the knifecat meme while reading this chapter, then i have done my job correctly in writing TG


	6. Ras-le-bol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flippy drowns his sorrows to the detriment of literally everyone.

“That was fucking stupid.” 

Flippy doesn’t react, just sips at his  _ extremely  _ strong mixed drink. This seems to do nothing but piss Fliqpy off further, but dammit he doesn’t want to deal with him. Right after he finally pulled himself together he came to this, the nearest (and somewhat shadiest) bar and immediately ordered the strongest thing the bartender could get him.

“ _ Flippy _ .” 

“What exactly did you want me to do??” He hisses, glad that he had the foresight to pick a seat far away from the more crowded sections of the bar. He does not need people seeing him getting agitated. “He was  _ right _ , and I don’t have any place to be scolding a war criminal for hanging around when I should be in prison too!” 

“You should have garroted him! Or stabbed him or something- Fucking anything besides just standing there and taking it!” Fliqpy slams the table and not for the first time Flippy is relieved that he’s not actually corporeal. The amount of property damage alone… 

“If you don’t think I didn’t want to do that the entire time, you weren’t paying attention! Of course I wanted to kill him! But I-” He growls a little and downs the rest of his drink in one big gulp, shuddering a bit at the burn. “I couldn’t. He hasn’t done anything worse than what everyone in this damn town has. And even if I did kill him...He’s clearly cursed.” 

“...Yeah. Which, how did that even happen?” Fliqpy grits his teeth. “How did he get cursed when Sneaks and Mouse stayed dead? How is that fair??” 

“It’s not fair.” Flippy says, simply. “And that’s why I’m drinking.” 

Fliqpy gets quiet at that, and they sit together in silence for a few minutes. Flippy can’t stop thinking about everything, though. 

He’s never been any good at understanding the curse. That’s for people like Sniffles to get into. But he knows better than anyone that the battlefields the war was fought on were not cursed. No one who died there would come back the next day, so why is the general suddenly here? And why the hell is he so interested in Flaky? 

The fact that he doesn’t have an answer for any of these is frustrating. What’s worse is he doesn’t know how to go about getting an answer, at least not without making more trouble for Flaky. And even then, he’s not guaranteed to get any truthful answers. He’s really not likely to think of anything right now, being a good way towards tipsy, but he can’t just stop thinking about it either. 

“Hey,” Fliqpy says. “Do you see that?” 

Flippy follows his line of sight and frowns. Standing at the bar are three blue tigers. It’s not actually that unusual of a sight. There are plenty of veterans in this town that are blue tigers, and plenty of non affiliated ones as well. But these ones…

“I don’t recognize them.” He says. He has made a concentrated effort to properly know who’s who in town, just so he doesn’t panic quite so easily if he runs into them. So for there to be tigers he doesn’t recognize. “It’s a bit weird that they’re here at a dive bar.” 

“It is. Especially after we ran into their boss, who is very much  _ alive _ .” Fliqpy says, and they look at each other. 

“...You don’t think…” Flippy says, but he already knows that they’re both having the same thought. If the general showed up here, then what’s stopping the rest of the army from still existing? He’s certain that not all of them were arrested or against what was planned in the first place. So now…

He watches as they head out towards the back. He knows from experience that there’s a door that leads to the back alley connecting the bar to the main street, and it’s where most people go to do extremely suspicious dealings/smoke. He shouldn’t follow them. He should go home, sober up, and wait for what the others have to say about what they found. 

So of course he stands up and walks to the door once they’ve gone through it. No one stops him because no one wants to possibly deal with Fliqpy, and never has he been so grateful to have such a bad reputation. 

He opens the door slow enough that it doesn’t make any noise that can be heard over the music inside. He slips into the dark alley, relieved when he sees that the soldiers are far away enough that they haven’t even looked up to see who’s come out. Good. He needs something like the element of surprise if he’s going to be getting anything out of them. 

“Excuse me.” He says, and steps forward. They look up, uncaring, and then do a double take when they see exactly who it is that’s talking. He can already see the panic in their eyes, which normally would make him feel bad but right now...No. “Can I ask you gentlemen a few questions?” 

Five minutes later he stands in the middle of the gore that’s left of two of the soldiers and he’s got his hand around the neck of the last one. It’s been one of those rare times that he could just give over control to Fliq and not regret it in the slightest. 

“So, just for clarification,” He says in a chipper voice. “You really  _ don’t  _ know what the General is here for? Because I’m awful curious to find out. And your buddies were tight lipped, and look what happened to them.” 

“Fu-Fuck you!” The tiger says and then chokes when Flippy applies just a bit more pressure. When he lets go he starts gasping for air and nodding. “Okay- Okay! He wants revenge on you!” 

“What?” Flippy scoffs. “Ugh. I could have guessed that much. What’s he planning, exactly?” 

“I-I dunno that! He was supposed to contact us tonight.” The soldier doesn’t exactly meet his eyes, but Flippy doesn’t get the sense that he’s lying. Instead it seems more likely that he’s just terrified. “But then you came by and uh,” His eyes slide to the lumps of gore and, yeah, terrified. Flippy doubts that he’s going to get much more information out of him. 

“That’s fine then. Well, nothing personal!” He says, and before the man can react he snaps his neck. The body slumps to the ground and Flippy steps out of the alleyway, squinting into the comparative bright lights of the street. 

Despite how stubborn the soldiers were, he did manage to find out the important things. The fact that the General is here for him. The fact that they referred to Flaky as “the mark”. And the fact that whatever is actually being planned is being kept secret from the basic troops for now. That does not bode well. 

“See? Don’t you feel better?” Fliqpy says, and Flippy rolls his eyes. 

“Shut up. Of course I don’t. It’s not like we’ve figured out how to handle this problem.” He sighs and unbuttons his jacket. If he walks around covered in blood it’ll only lead to freakouts. “...But I guess now we know for sure that that bastard doesn’t mean anything well by being with Flaky.” He sighs and runs a hand through his fur, grimacing at the streaks of blood it leaves behind. 

There’s a soft beeping and he jumps a little, before scrambling into his coat to grab his phone. He’s had to worry enough about it getting ruined because of Fliqpy’s rampages that he’s gotten it properly souped up, but he still grimaces at the blood swipes on the screen as he answers. 

“Cuddles? What’s up?”

“Flips! Hey! Have you seen Gigs around?” Cuddles doesn’t sound worried when he speaks, but there’s something about the way he says it that pricks Flippy’s own worry. 

“...No? Why? Weren’t you two supposed to be going to Flaky’s house together?” Definitely worried now. 

“Well, we did, but then Giggles went outside to take a call, and she hasn’t been back, so I was wondering if it was you who called.” Cuddles hums. “I guess not, though. Call me if you see her, okay?” 

“Uh, right. Wait, I-” But it’s too late, and Cuddles has already ended the call. Flippy stares at his phone with a frown. That’s concerning, but it’s also not. Giggles gets distracted easily, especially when it comes to social things. More than once she’s wandered off in the middle of a conversation and didn’t even realize it. But in this particular context, he can’t help but to be worried. 

He wishes he could believe his instincts were wrong. But lately it seems that they’re too eerily accurate to be ignored. He just hopes Giggles is okay. 


End file.
